


The Pieces Fit

by Galahard



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: And there will probably always be language in my Kingsman fics, Gen, There is violence but I wouldn't call it graphic, dark!Harry Hart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:21:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3403622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galahard/pseuds/Galahard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr Prompt for dark/villian Harry. This was my take on it, from Eggsy's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pieces Fit

Eggsy sauntered into Merlin's office, ready for his next assignment. There had been a nice gap between missions this time, but if he didn't have something to do soon he was going to go mad. Or waste his whole day in the pub, and that wasn't even all that enjoyable anymore.

Merlin didn't bother looking up when he entered, the art of knocking still lost to him. "Shut the door and take a seat Galahad. This won't take long."

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary until he pushed over a pair of glasses. Every agent knew these glasses, a special type Merlin had devised to not work with anything other than his personal clipboard and that didn't broadcast anything whatsoever. He put them on with a bit of apprehension but refused to let it show, settling back in his chair and letting his legs sprawl out in front of him.

"Where you going to send me Merlin? Roxy and I was just saying Italy was nice this time of year."

Finally Merlin looked up, and by his expression he knew this was serious. Most of what they did was serious, so when Merlin looked like this? Eggsy straightened in his chair. "I didn't want to bring you into this Galahad, but I'm afraid you're the only one that has a chance with this mission."

The magician tapped several times on his tablet and a slideshow of pictures and video clips began, all showing carnage. Carnage he recognized from the news, the origin unknown.

"I've managed to cobble together the pieces of this puzzle, and the results," he cleared his throat and took a deep breath, "the results were as I feared. This is the work of Arthur."

He couldn’t help it. He jerked as if he’d been shot before leaning forward, staring at the screen as image after image of decimated buildings, piles of bodies, and lists of casualties continued scrolling past.

“No. You’ve got to be fucking with me. Say you’re fucking with me.”

He was desperate for Merlin to crack a smile, to not say anything and simply tell him about his real mission, but the magician merely gave him a small shake of his head before clicking something on his clipboard, pulling up a comparison chart.

“These are the dates and locations of Arthur’s last 18 missions compared to 18 attacks. As you can see they all occurred within 100 miles of his location, during the time frame that he was gone. Other than the entire village that was lit on fire there have been no survivors from any of the attacks, which is why it has been hard to pin down who the culprit could possibly be.”

“It’s not proof though. You don’t have any live feed or some shit to prove it’s him?”

“Not yet. But 18 is no coincidence. You know that as well as I do. I can’t know it’s Arthur doing this and not do anything about it, and you’re the only one who has a chance of getting close to him. You and I know him best, and I haven’t a hope of outmaneuvering him on the field. 

Eggsy took off the glasses, unwilling to look at the comparisons any longer, or the images of the dead scrolling past in the bottom corner. “It’s Harry though,” he murmured, half to himself, half to Merlin. 

Merlin wheeled his chair over so he could place a hand on his shoulder. “I know. But after the church,” he paused searching for words, “he’s not our Harry anymore. Not really.”

He moved back to the computer, tapping away at a few keys before speaking again. “Take a few days. Harry’s on assignment, local and he tends to make more trouble abroad. You have to be committed to this to make it work. You can’t have reservations. Any hesitation and it’s over before we begin. We may know him, but he knows us too, and he’ll tell if you give away the merest hint that you know something’s up. Come in when you’re ready. Dismissed.”

\--------

Leaving Merlin’s had been hard, but even harder were the two days he spent at home or wandering the streets around his house. He’d read up on the tragedies, the number dead, the fact that no one was safe, man, woman, or child, and he’d combed over everything he knew about Harry’s past away missions, searching for any miniscule detail that might prove he wasn’t the one who had committed the crimes.

Nothing. Nothing but the confirmation of Merlin’s suspicions, down to the times that Harry had missed phone calls or communications that would have been in the middle of some of the atrocities.

Trudging to Merlin’s office felt like he was walking the green mile, and when he reached the door he reached out. And knocked.

He knew Merlin could read it on his face as he entered, and he sat down without saying anything, wordlessly taking the specs and turning toward the screen.

\--------

Thanks to a nanotracker Eggsy was currently scoping out a dive bar. It was nothing special, nothing extraordinary, but then Merlin’s was speaking to him through the headpiece. “You need to move in now. Arthur’s been here before on a mission, back when he was Galahad. If he remembers the layout he may have already made his move.” Eggsy had started toward the door as soon as Merlin told him to move, trying to keep his head down and look like just another bloke. 

“Use whatever force is necessary.”

He pulled at the door handle, and whatever hope he’d had that maybe, just maybe, they were wrong disappeared. It was locked. 

A second passed as he tucked his umbrella under his arm before he drew his pistol, aiming at the lock and hoping it didn’t have three deadbolts and a bar across it when he heard a noise at the other side, and a slow creak as the door opened a few inches.

“Still working on the knocking are we? Come on in Eggsy.”

He froze, unsure of what to do with his cover blown. The idea had been for Harry not to know that he knew and to catch him unaware, but there was no way that Harry couldn’t know that he knew. 

“Try to stay alive,” came the rather unhelpful advice from Merlin, and he stepped into the bar.

The scene wasn’t like the church. There were bodies here and there, but more as he looked toward the back of the bar, as if people had been trying to escape and had been turned into lambs for the slaughter. 

There in the midst of it all, hair falling across his forehead and blood splattering his glasses, was Harry. But he simply had his bland smile fixed on his face, looking for all the world as if this was just a normal day, or at the very least a normal mission where he was taking out a gang of hardened criminals, rather than people down on their luck who were just trying to drink their sorrows away.

A low groan came from one corner of the room and Harry’s eyebrow rose as he glanced in that direction. “Well shit. I beg your pardon, I hadn’t had a chance to check back in with all of my customers when you stopped by. Don’t worry about it, they can wait. How can I help you Eggsy?”

“What are you doing,” hissed Merlin’s voice in his ear. “That could have been your opportunity! He looked away!”

It was hard to focus on both of them at once, even though Eggsy was used to missions, used to having some sort of handler in his ear while he dealt with a mark. “Stop trying to fucking act like nothing’s wrong Harry. I already seen it, and I ain’t going to put up with that bullshit. What the fuck are you doing?” His voice was laced with pain, the betrayal something that he had known about, but it felt personal. Raw.

Harry took out his handkerchief, wiping his hands on the unsoiled cloth until it was stained red before sighing and tucking it away. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be you. If you must know I was just having a bit of fun, nothing like a bar fight to end the weekend. Isn’t that right Eggsy?”

He smiled, and it was too easy for Eggsy to want to relax, to not prime his weapon and leap to action. But Merlin’s orders rang through his ear, the now constant noise telling him to take the opportunity while he had it, to shoot Harry before he could continue on his killing spree. His hand shook, but Harry was close, and even with a shaky shot he was sure to hit his target.

“I can see you don’t understand,” Harry said, taking off his glasses and looking at them as if he was going to clean them. “You’re young though, and it will probably be years before you do. Suffice it to say that the church was a revelation. Right now you’re thinking that you only have one choice, that the only thing that you can do is shoot me. There is another option Eggsy. One I’ve thought about a rather lot. You could join me. You’ve been my protégé, and you could be again.”

His voice was low, heated, a sound that Eggsy had only heard him use before on marks, but Harry was looking at him earnestly, honestly believing that there was a chance Eggsy could join him on this path.

He looked at Harry, really looked at him, and all he could think of was JB. JB staring at him, not even knowing the orders that he had, though deep down he knew Harry had to know. He tapped his forefinger against the barrel of his gun once, twice, nerves strung but knowing his finger was too far away from the trigger for it to be all that dangerous. Knew Harry had probably already seen before he voiced the truth for Merlin to hear.

“I can’t do it. I can’t fucking do it.”

He saw the movement, couldn’t barely process it as Harry snatched his own umbrella from where it had lain on a barstool, bloodsplattered from the action it had already seen, and leveled it at him.

There was a crunch as he dropped like a stone.

\--------

Opening his eyes shot hurt, and his vision was blurry as shapes started to swim into focus. Something cool pressed against his lips and he opened them automatically, not that surprised when liquid seeped across his tongue and he swallowed. The cup was removed and he licked at the roof of his mouth, trying to spread around what little moisture he could as a figure came into focus.

Harry was gazing down at him with concern, and that was all he needed to see before he closed his eyes, working his mouth and throat until he could croak out a few words. “You caught my signal.”

“Of course. Clever use of it I must admit. Whoever trained you must have trained you well”

“You fucking shot me.”

“It was the best way to cut the feed and make it look convincing, and I am highly accurate with the stun setting as you well know. They’ll have to strongly suspect you were killed, and it will be hard for them to prove. I know how Kingsman works. One of their own? Merlin would keep the information to as few as sources as possible, so of course you were the only agent in the area.” Harry made sure he drank as he spoke, voice even and soothing in the explanation.

“It is surprisingly taxing to cut the head off of multiple bodies, but there was a good axe for fire emergencies. The heads I dumped in separate bodies of water, and I set the entire place on fire. Without any teeth to go on it’ll take a while for the whole mess to be sorted out, and it will take Merlin longer to realize that you weren’t among those burnt. One young man fit your build fairly well, so I put him where you would have fallen before setting the blaze.”

There was a certain amount of satisfaction to Harry’s voice, and Eggsy couldn’t help but relax slightly as he listened, knowing how much effort Harry had put in to keep his treason quiet for the time being. By the time Kingsman knew without a doubt that he was alive it would already be too late, and they would already be on to their next target.

He opened his eyes again, turning his head to meet Harry’s gaze, reveling in the dark fire smoldering in eyes that had once shown simple reserve. “What’s our first mission?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys for all the comments, prompts, etc both here and on tumblr (username is Galahard on there as well). You're all the best. <3


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